Royal Brackla indie


October 20, 2025

WF's Little Duos, today indie Royal Brackla

We want more natural Brackla! Even if the base malt doesn’t exactly burst with personality, despite its inherent royalty… That said, as usual, if you really want to get closer to the distillate, you’ve got to turn to the (good) indies. It’s a mad world.

Royal Brackla 13 yo 2011/2024 (48.5%, Thompson Bros., refill butt, 727 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: oily nose, on peanut oil, sesame oil, then hay and salted butter caramel. And really, who could object to any of that? Mouth: a full transposition of the nose onto the palate, though a little rougher, more rustic. Almond croissant, hay wine, white pepper, coriander seed, Dutch genever... Finish: long, drier still, even more on the genever. Comments: absolutely lovely, far from a ‘standard’ Scottish malt, much closer to a northern European genever. In short, it’s intriguing, exactly what one also hopes for from an independent bottler, actually.
SGP:361 - 87 points.

Royal Brackla 11 yo 2013/2024 (53.6%, Fable Whisky, Hesperus, hogshead, cask 301779, 314 bottles)

These labels remain absolutely sublime, and I mean it. Colour: pale gold. Nose: a bit like the same whisky, only more austere, more Jansenist, but also more herbal—fennel, dill... With water: back to beer, wash, bread dough... Mouth (neat): same profile as the admirable Thompson Bros. edition. Pepper, bitter almond, juniper, coriander, candied lemon... With water: a little less oomph now, makes one wonder whether the water was really needed. It turns slightly drying but still remains very excellent. Finish: rather long, wilder, more peppery, though ultimately more honeyed. Comments: very, very good, just a touch more unruly.
SGP:451 - 86 points.

Check the index of all Bracklas we've tasted